What's on HP's software shopping list?

The coming months could also see Apotheker push a strategy involving collaborative "agile business networks," which he called "the next big thing" in an interview with IDG News Service earlier this year, prior to taking the HP post.

"The next big thing is not so much optimising processes within a company, but optimising inter-company processes, and it can only be done on collaborative platforms," Apotheker said. The interview coincided with his joining the board of GT Nexus, maker of a cloud-based portal where users share information with customers and partners in their supply chain. Apotheker is still listed as a member of GT Nexus' board.

And 451 Group's China Martens, for one, is not ruling out an applications push from HP. The company could decide to get further into service automation, scooping up "either an older player or a SaaS pure-play like a RightNow," she said.

"There's also the old suggestion of whether HP would be a home for Salesforce.com, to give HP a real foot in the apps world and to give Salesforce.com access to the sales and service firepower it often says it needs to go after more enterprise business," she added.